‘Never inappropriate’: Ghislaine Maxwell defends Trump, claims Epstein didn’t die of suicide
An astonishing interview with Jeffrey Epstein’s convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell has been made public.
Jeffrey Epstein’s convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell has made an astonishing defence of Donald Trump, claiming he was “never inappropriate with anybody” in the time he was friends with the late pedophile.
Maxwell also said she did not believe Epstein died of suicide, contradicting Justice Department and FBI accounts of his death, in interviews with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
The 63-year-old is serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in December 2021 of sex trafficking and conspiracy charges, but sat for the interviews behind bars last month as she seeks a public pardon.
The Justice Department released redacted transcripts of the interviews on Friday local time, as Trump’s administration tried to quash rampant speculation about Epstein.
Trump sparked anger and risked alienating his MAGA base when he reneged on an election promise to release the Epstein files – which supposedly include a list of Epstein’s rich and famous clients.
It appeared Maxwell had tried to flatter the president as much as possible in her talks with Mr Blanche in Tallahassee, Florida.
“As far as I’m concerned, President Trump was always very cordial and very kind to me,” she said.
“And I just want to say that I admire his extraordinary achievement in becoming the president now. And I like him, and I’ve always liked him. That is the sum and substance of my entire relationship with him.
“I never witnessed the President in any inappropriate setting in any way,” she insisted, referencing Trump’s friendship with Epstein in the 1990s and early 2000s.
She believed she had only ever seen the men “in social settings,” and didn’t “recall any private settings.”
Maxwell also likened claims about Epstein’s powerful clientele to a “Salem witch trial.”
“That narrative that was created and then built upon, and it just mushroomed into what -basically this is like a Salem witch trial,” she said.
“People have gone and lost their minds for this thing. I understand that. But the issue is, how do you satisfy a mob who can’t understand the lifestyle? Because it’s like P. Diddy in redux on TV with Clintons and Trump.
“I mean, it’s – it’s bananas. And while some of it is real – he [Epstein] did do those things, I’m definitely not disputing that,” she added.
“But this was a man, they didn’t even believe he had a real business. I happen to believe he did.
“He’s not that interesting. He’s a disgusting guy who did terrible things to young kids.”
Maxwell breaks with official story
At one point however, Maxwell appeared to throw fuel on the conspiracy theories surrounding the Epstein case.
“I do not believe he died by suicide,” she said, adding that it was “possible” Epstein was targeted in his Manhattan jail by others.
The wealthy financier died in his New York jail cell during Trump’s first term as president in 2019, while facing charges for the sex trafficking of minors.
Though the medical examiner ruled the cause of death was suicide by hanging, there was been a great deal of public skepticism over the death, including from Epstein’s own lawyers.
The interviews also made apparent reference to prominent Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre.
Mr Blanche asked Maxwell whether Prince Andrew had sex with a redacted person at her house in 2001 - with the redacted name likely to have been Ms Giuffre’s given the context.
In response Maxwell said: “What’s an even bigger word than bulls**t?”
She said the allegations could not have “logistically and physically” happened.
Ms Giuffre, who died by suicide at her Western Australian home in April, alleged Epstein and Maxwell trafficked her to the Duke of York when she was 17 - a claim Andrew has denied.
The mum-of-three sued Prince Andrew in 2021, claiming she was trafficked and forced to have sex with the Duke on three occasions when she was a teen.
An infamaous photo exists of Prince Andrew, Ms Giuffre and Maxwell together, which Maxwell claimed was “fake.”
Mr Blanche also asked Maxwell about a scandalous note that Trump reportedly wrote to Epstein when the pair were friends.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the president wrote a note for Epstein’s 50th birthday where he called the pedophile a “pal” and said, “We have certain things in common, Jeffrey.”
Trump gave a furious response, calling the note “fake and nonexistent” and suing the newspaper for $10 billion over the report.
Maxwell, a British socialite and the daughter of media baron Robert Maxwell, had a decades-long association with Epstein and recruited young girls to be abused by him, leading to her 2021 conviction for sex trafficking.
Trump has not ruled out a pardon for Maxwell, saying in July: “Well, I’m allowed to give her a pardon. But nobody’s approached me with it. Nobody’s asked me about it. It’s in the news, about that, that aspect of it.”
